Tick Tock Goes the Clock
by Minato's Moustache
Summary: A cracked clock and a camping trip gone wrong. With all his friends dead Galen is empty, but when offered a chance to set it all right he jumps at the opportunity, the catch? He has 24 hours to save them all, or else.
1. Loop One

**Ooo something like Night World meets Aioni and 07 games. If you've ever seen Aioni or played a game by 07, you'll be like "oh I know where this is going." Also, it's totally dark by 6 in April, what do you **_**mean**_** that's scientifically inaccurate? **

**Also it's set in 2016 because why not? And it's all human ok... Well, mostly. **

**And Dalos is so intended to just take the fuck out of Ivan, he just, is. **

_A million shards of glass, the clock no longer ticks, its gears grind to a halt, and the comedy repeats itself. _

The sun was beginning to set when they finally reached their destination. Eighteen kids all camping out in the forest a few miles from their town in celebration of one of their friend's birthday.

Birthday boy couldn't shake the grin from his face, nor could he shake an equally excited Keller from his arm. His name was Galen and that day he turned 19.

April the third, 2016, it was absolutely freezing and the sun was setting at little passed six in the afternoon, the clocks had been set backwards and these woods were known for being dangerous, but why the hell not, right?

Right?

The group divided themselves up, sitting around two campfires and breathing in the smell of smoke, nicotine and marshmellows dipped in chocolate.

"It's a shame Mary Lynette couldn't come," someone remarked in Ash's general direction.

"I suppose," he said, taking a drag from her cigarette, "she would've hated it anyway."

A few people chuckled in the group. In such a small town, it wasn't surprising that the children had all found someone, or been forced with, someone from around their own age. Galen was no exception, having found Keller the previous year when an upperclassman through a book at his head and Keller, who had witnessed the entire thing, beat him to a pulp. It turned out that upperclassman was Ash, and he was still the asshole he was a year ago.

Galen sipped on his drink, politely smiling at his friends because god there was a lot of them. The camp had split in half, half of them deciding to sleep in the forest to "enhance the experience" and the other half sleeping in a clearing near the edge of a cliff. It would kill you if you fell off, but Christ it was beautiful.

In their group, there was seven of them; Galen, Keller, Maggie, Dalos, surprisingly Ash, Iliana and James. In the other group the other 11; Rashel, Thierry, Hannah, Jez and Morgead, Quinn, Poppy, David, Eric, Thea, and Gillian.

As it approached 10pm, 3rd of the fourth month, 2016, the temperature rapidly dropped and they all prepared to go to sleep, besides Dalos who was trying to push his "Vodka will warm you up plus it's time for celebrating and, well, VODKAAA" theory on all of them, yet the only one that seemed to waver was Ash, who loved a good piss up with his Russian freak of a friend.

As it approached 11pm, 3rd of the fourth month, 2016, the ghost stories had broken out.

As it approached 11:30pm, the conversation steered towards murders. Most specifically, murders locally, and by 12:00, when the thin, quiet chimes of the town clock from far away chimed, they were all so freaked that when Poppy screamed because she heard a rustling in the treeline, the only way to calm her down was to send someone to go check.

"Ash, where are you going?" Keller asked, "first rule of survival, never check out the noises."

"Girl you watch too many horrors. C'mon, Dalos, we're gonna go find out what it is."

Dalos smiled, loosening the scarf around his neck – hey, it was cold, okay? – and stood up, following Ash into the forest, Poppy hesitated slightly, before bouncing up and running after them, eager to see herself.

And then there were four.

They sat in a circle, shivering and quiet, waiting for their friends to come back. Galen could still hear Ash talking loudly to a mostly silent Dalos and the noises of Poppy skipping after them.

That is until they couldn't be heard anymore.

Ash's voice didn't fade out, it cut off.

Then it all started.

Galen's legs _ached_, his left ankle screamed out in pain every time he put pressure on it and Keller's grip on his hand was sending his fingers numb. Somewhere along the way, they'd lost the others, but their screams still followed them.

The couple ran, desperate to reach the treeline, they could see the lights of the road from where they stood, but it was so dark, and so terrifying. Galen could hear pounding footsteps behind them.

It had been so weird, so surreal, a flash of red hair, a ripped scarf hanging off a tree, then screaming, running, losing the others and now making a dash for the road.

And they almost made it.

Everyone always hopes the protagonist will make it, and they always do, yet hope breeds misery and as Galen leapt over the metal barrier separating the road from the grass at the edge of the trees, he let go of Keller's hand and spun round in time to see her stumble and be dragged back into the forest. He turned around in time to see her screaming face, the horror in her eyes, and the shadows enveloping her.

And because he turned around, he didn't see the car before it hit him.

The light, it was so bright.

Galen opened his eyes.

April the third, 2017, happy birthday to_ me~. _

It's a horrible feeling, having your birthday me a memory of how all of your friends died.

The boy dressed quickly, formal casual. He brushed his hair, cleaned his teeth and was out of the door without eating breakfast, grabbing flowers from the vase that they'd sat in since the night before and beginning the trip. On the bus, the looks were accusing, sympathetic, and his survivors guilt was at an all time high.

Galen filled the water bottle with water from the taps in the small graveyard house, and weaved through out the gravestones of his hometowns fallen. So many of them had died that night that they'd practically needed to use an entire plot of land to put them all in. Well, they would've had too if it wasn't for mass burial.

Mass burial, how disrespectful it is.

Galen wasn't there to lay flowers for all of them, just _her. _Just Keller. Sure, he loved his other friends, but he felt personally responsible for her death.

_We have to run, don't let go on my hand, okay? _

_I promise. _

Galen sat on the path next to the grave, brushing away dirt from the plaque and placing the flowers in the little pot imbedded into the ground, before soaking them in water.

He smiled slightly as he read the names on the plaque.

"You miss them, huh?" came a feminine voice from behind him. He shot up, gasping.

"P-Poppy?" he said, before looking at her properly.

"No," she said in a refined European accent, "I think you'll find she's dead."

"This isn't funny, you're sick," Galen spat at her.

"I'm crazy," she said, "but what if, hypothetically speaking, I was a goddess, and I could take you back to save them?"

"Hypothetically speaking?" Galen was suspicious of her, he hadn't seen her around before and her aura was sickly sweet.

"Ja," she murmured, "answer, mon petit cheri?"

"I'd say yes," he replied, "why?"

She grinned, "oh no reason."

Galen felt her press her palms against his temples, and he tried to pull away, only to find himself unable too.

"You have 24 hours, Galen," she whispered in his ear, "find out who did it to them and save them all, or I'll make you do it again, and again, and again."

"W-what the hell?" he stumbled, shrieking when his entire body was engulfed in white hot pain.

Galen opened his eyes, he must've blacked out.

Imagine his surprise when he found himself in his bed with a warm figure lying next to him. He turned his head to the side and gave out a yelp.

She opened her eyes slowly, "Mmm what's up?"

"what day is it?"

"It's your birthday, silly, Galen what's the matter?"

"Keller is it really you?"

"Of course, idiot, are you sick?"

"Oh my god."

_And the comedie repeats. _

**Lolwut is with this. **

**AND BEFORE ANYONE SAYS ANYTHING THE GIRL IS JUST from everywhere in Europe, so of course she used German and French in the same sentence, gosh. **

**R-review? **


	2. Loop Nine

**Hey guys want to actually have some idea of what happened last time? Here! Onto my second thing to say, thankyou for all the reviews! Ee I love you serious. This chapter is patheticcccllly written but I hope you like it ok. After this point, there **_**will **_**be plot. **

**Finally, Dalos=Delos. There's a reason I change around his name, damn it. **

**NOW SHOW ME YO PEACOCKCOCKCOCK. 3 **

* * *

><p>Galen bit the skin around his nail as he watched his friends talking excitedly and loading the car. It was surreal seeing them all again after so long and his first instinct was to hug them all and tell them everything that was going to happen, but he quickly reined that idea in and decided to let the night play out.<p>

_You have twenty four hours to protect all your friends and find out who killed them._

Galen watched as Delos sidled over to him and sat besides him.  
>"Hello," he smiled, "It's lovely and sunny today."<br>Delos nodded, picking up his scarf and wrapping it around his neck, before grinning at his friend. Galen almost craved Delos's comfortable silence right then.  
>"You excited?" Delos asked quietly.<br>"Yeah," Galen smiled, trying to act like he did last time so as to not alarm his friend, "It's gonna be great."

"Yo, the cars're loaded," Quinn shouted to them, "Let's go."

The teen piled into their cars and began the short drive to the campsite on the edge of the forest. They'd park their car there and hike into the forest, the camp would split in half, and they'd go their separate ways.

Only this time they wouldn't.

"We'll never all fit into that clearing," Poppy said as they all stood in the clearing, eating their lunches and soaking in the spring sun.

"Yeah I reckon we should split," Morgead drawled, not so subtly looking down at Jez and his' intertwined hands. They'd hooked up little over a year be- a week, damn it, Galen - and were inseparable.

"I dibs sleeping in the forest," Jez said, looking away from him and back, "anyone else up for it?"

"No!" Galen yelled, earning a strange look from his friends.

"Okay, okay, birthday boy, you don't have too. Ash?"

Ash snorted "Nah I'll pass."

"What, you too chicken?" Jez and Morgead both began to make clucking noises and gestures. Ash growled in warning, only receiving a grin for his dog like acting and efforts.

"I actually give a shit about my hair, ladies," Ash snarled.

Just like last time.

Cut to Ash pulling Poppy from the mess that was her tent and helping her set it back up, grinning as he rescued her and sharing a weird look with her.

Cut to Galen complaining about the cold.

Cut to Keller's beautiful smile and the heat of the fire.

Cut to alcohol and everyone laughing and joking.

Cut to the cuts on Galen's fingertips because _this wasn't real and he was desperately trying to convince himself of that so lips bloody and fingers cut from rocks. _

Cut to the fire dying down and them all sitting in a circle; Galen, Keller, Ash, James, Poppy, Delos, Maggie.

"Has anyone got their phone?" cut to Ash asking that.

Everyone looking around at each other comes next.

"Why the hell would we have our phones?" inserted Poppy, "Au natural, idiot."

"If we're going Au natural, then we might as well take all our clothes off."

And then everyone pulled out their phones and threw him them like it was going out of fashion, Mary Lynette told them all about Ash's naked exploits and how un nice they were.

Ew.

He fiddled about on Keller's phone for a moment, until a light shot out and he spent a moment shining it in everyone's faces.

"Long ago in a land far away, there was a guy, and he had no head." Ash began, his face turning dark. /

"No shut up," James interjected; I can do way better than your THEN WHO WAS OPHONE bullshit. Okay, you know these woods?" he asked, as if they didn't.

Galen hated this story.

"Well a few years back, they found this body here."

No, no god please stop James.

"And it was this girl. Been cut clean in half, like Black Delilah."

Cut to – ahaha cut – to James finishing his stupid story and holding Poppy close.

Then the bushes rustled and Galen's fingers sunk into the soft dirt they were sitting on, his nails cracking into hard rocks and his ears ringing with the sound of Poppy's shriek. The corresponding silence was terrifying.

"What was that?" she asked, her voice hitching.

Ash was holding back his laughter, "it was a cat."

"Cats don't come out here," Dalos said, but he was smirking too, he didn't care if it was a cat or a killer, Poppy was being funny.

"I don't care if it was a cat or not, go check," Poppy said, gripping onto James' shirt.

"It was a cat, Poppy," Galen said, "don't go check guys."

"Check."

"No."

"Yes."

"Damn it, I'll check," Ash moaned, standing up and stretching, "Dalos you're coming too bring the vodka."

Dalos's grin grew wider as he scrambled up.

"First rule of survival, Ash, never check out the noises," Keller said, glaring at him.

"Girl you watch too many horror, c'mon, Dalos."

But Dalos had already wrapped his scarf around his arm and wandered off into the forest.

Ash followed, Poppy didn't.

And they didn't come back, just as expected, Galen heard their voices grow quieter and cut off.

_Seriously, cut clean in half right off into the forest. _

Eventually, after worrying and Maggie complaining that Dalos wasn't _used _to stuff like this and that _ash would be mean to him and he couldn't take it_ they eventually decided to set out for them./

Maggie and Dalos weren't dating, she was his carer. Volunteer worker for Young Minds US and because she personally knew Dalos, it was her job to look after him. Like, make sure he didn't get bullied, make sure he didn't go any crazier, make sure he didn't drink more bleach and further destroy his throat and vocal chords.

Stupid Dalos.

Galen and James walked up front as they progressed into the forest, the canopy reflecting and blocking any of the starlight, making it so much harder. The girls walked behind, giggling and stumbling; with Poppy complaining that they were going to _die out here, guys. Omg what if he likes redheads? Jamiiieeeeee protect meeeeee. _ With Maggie doing the reassuring whilst yelping the occasional "Dalos, where are you?" and Keller whining that she was holding up the rear when she _should _be protecting their asses up front.

When they reached that clearing, Galen tried to avert James, to stop him from going in, but James did anyway. He walked straight past Galen, who had paused in the darkness, and only stopped and turned round when he noticed Galen wasn't following.

The girls were too far away to get to the clearing for at least a few minutes, with Poppy stopping to put her flats back on.

"Hey Gale, whatcha doing? You're not _scared _are you?"

And then he turned back round.

And then he screamed.

And then the sounds of the girls running came.

And then they ran past Galen too.

And then.

And then.

A flash of red hair, a blood stained blue scarf, a _"Jamie? Oh my __**god, Jamie?" **_

Galen stepped out of the treeline, grabbing Keller and Poppy and dragging them back towards the trees. Maggie was distracted; Maggie was lost in that bloodstained smile of her companion, even if she couldn't see the smile. Maggie could only see a shaking Dalos, a broken Ash, and she could only comfort Dalos and look at the others like _the hell? _

His smile split his face, the first smile in a long while and Galen dragged the girls out of the clearing.

"Where are we going?" Poppy asked, "James is hurt, and so's Ash!"

"Cover your ears," Galen said, "Keller cover your ears."

Keller looked angry and suspicious; but shoved her fingers in her ears. Galen covered Poppy's ears and closed his eyes.

He didn't want the girls to hear _her begging for her life. _

"Galen what the hell is going on?" Keller exclaimed, "they're _dead. _We have to find Thierry he'll know what to do."

"I don't know what's going on, okay?" Galen yelled, "All I know is they're dead, and we're leaving."

"Are you fucking crazy?" Poppy shrieked, "Don't make me swear, Galen, but my BOYFRIEND IS DEAD AND WHAT'S GOING ON."

Galen grabbed them and ran, just. Ran. He had no idea where they were but he just ran for it, dragging his phone from his pocket and checking for signal as he made them run.

"Keller where's the carpark?"

"just off the trail, why?"

"We need to go back to our tents then. To get to the trail to get to the carpark to get to th-"

"Police!" Poppy said, "I get it, but we have to find the others, right?"

She was handling it a little bit too well for Galen's liking, when they slowed to a walk; he looked to check on her.

Wait, no she was crying her eyes out.

She bit her lip, "I don't want to see Jamie's body again." She whispered, "Oh god what if wolves _eat it?_"

"No one's getting eaten," Keller interjected, "Now c'mon."

"_Au contraire, Mon Cherie_." The trees whispered.

They walked for awhile, settling their hearts and trying to pretend it was fine.

Poppy trailed behind, sampling the sleeves of her jumper.

"You know something, you've been acting weird all day," Keller whispered, "what is it?"

"I feel sick," Galen replied, "Like you probably do right now."

Don't get me wrong, seeing his friends die hadn't desensitized him to it a second time, he was a wreck, but it was important he kept it together.

_If you save all your friends._

_All._

_All._

_All._

_Can i have a second chance please? _

_Mind your watch my baby, morning's come to claim me. _

The trees rustled and Keller looked behind her, screaming.

Galen looked back, shocked, to find Poppy gone.

She hadn't disappeared last time, she'd ju-

"Run!" Keller yelled, taking his hand.

"Don't let go," he replied to her, gripping her hand tight and smiling.

"Okay. Love you."

"Love you."

And they ran.

You know the rest, right?

They ran and they ran and they ran, through a bog and climbing over gnarled and dying tree trunks. Galen tripped, slamming into a tree and yelping at the pain. They told him that he cracked a rib. His ankle screamed in pain and they told him that he twisted it.

He was lucky, by the looks of his friends he got out easy.

He didn't know what his friends looked like by the end, they wouldn't tell him.

His hand went cold, the car hit his body and Keller looked so _sad when she died. _

* * *

><p>"<em>Happy birthday to you~" <em>The girl sung, fiddling with his hair, "how old are you now, fifty, sixty?"

Galen grunted, removing her hands from his hair and putting them back into her lap, "seventy two today."

"You still look as young as you did the day we met," she mused, "when you turn 100 you can have my name."

"I still look this young because I've been living hell for the last fifty-ish years."

"Oh baby, wanna go again? You know who killed them right?"

"Yeah," he said, turning down the music. He sat in his room with the devil, having abandoned taking flowers to his dead friend's graves about ten years ago, "it's definitely Delos. I'm just letting it happen by this point."

She slapped him, "I'm not sending you back so you can cry and watch your girlfriend writhe in pain. I'm sending you back so you can beat the game."

"How am I meant to beat a game when I have no fucking idea what I'm meant to be doing?"

"You'll figure it out, asshole." She snarled, "Eventually, now pass the smarties bowl I'm hungerin' for some chocolate. It's not Dalos, by the way, try again."

Galen smiled at her, even if she was a horrible person; she still had a tendency to be cute.

Occasionally she'd send him back a few months after it happened, sometimes he wouldn't even get out of the forest, but usually she killed him a year later on his birthday. The second he died, it reset, that was one of her fabled and mysterious rules.

He passed the bowl...

...and she used it to beat him to death.

_The comedy does repeat now, da?_

* * *

><p><strong>YOU CAN HAVE YOUR PLOT NEXT CHAPTER OK. I need to SPELL CHECK THIS OK but i haven't because i'm going to see Breaking Dawn Tonight. If you have any major complaints about whatever I've done wrong, redirect it to a PM, and maybe an offer to Beta me because I NEED A BETA RIGHT NOW. Otherwise, go review. Fo shizzle, babes.<strong>

**EDIT: Breaking Dawn was awesome and everyone was awesome and Sean was fucking awesome and I died at how much I love Twilight fuck the haters... Lmao I worry myself. **


	3. Loop Seiben

**THANKYOU FOR ALL THE REVIEWS you lovely girls and boys. **

**Gym Class Heroes are so good that I'm getting distracted by them whilst trying to write this, damn it. **

**Plotplotplot. My psychopath section is theory, I don't think they've proved it but I can't remember. I love how Word is sure that ****sinistromanuality isn't a word. LMAO. Go google it after you get to that point in the story. **

**This chapter is long. I cover quite a lot of history of people in it.**

**OH MY GOSH THE PLOT I HAVE SET OUT FOR THIS. I HAVE ARCS. Arcs, bitches. **

* * *

><p><em>But if the forest makes a sound, does the falling tree hear it? No one can know, except those that do. <em>

If asked to determine the thing that started the chain reaction leading to the death of seventeen children and the driver of the truck that hit Galen, the average onlooker would come to the conclusion that it was the fact that they were in the forest, or the fact that they went to go check on that noise, or the fact that there was a _murderer. _Not I, never I, I believe it started long before that, a long time before that. It was meant to happen, someone was meant to be born with defects in their prefrontal cortex, someone was meant to be abused the way he was, he was meant to be susceptible to peoples ideas, or maybe he wasn't susceptible, but he was meant to appear that way.

His sister was meant to be born with cerebel palsy, she was meant to be outcasted by his parents for not having use of her legs. _Disabled _child. _Weak _child. _Waste of fucking space _child.

He was meant to be discovered swimming in a very cold river by a boy called Ash, who strangely enough decided to take him back to his home, where he and his friends were having a sleepover party, and offer him to stay the night. He was meant to get into their click and smile at them and be social but just a little weird. He brought them all together, and tore them all apart.

Then he drunk bleach, last resort, _drink bleach and it'll kill you, _and ended up in hospital because _bleach doesn't kill you, kids, it does worse, _and his friends were meant to be confused. Then he met Maggie, and then they went camping.

From the second that boy began to develop, the way the doctor determined that he'd be a part of the strangely discriminated against sinistromanuality children and adults, and his life leading up to that moment in the hospital bed, his neck swollen and pumped full of drugs. When he had first met her at the bottom of his hospital bed, her smile, her gentle kiss on his cheek and the scarf she left, the deal they made.

Then Maggie came back in the room.

"Where did you get that scarf?" she asked, sitting back down with her coffee and touching it, "it's nice."

He grabbed the pen off the side of the table and wrote on a post it note.

_A friend. _

It smudged, of course, he wasn't in the position to turn the paper correctly, and they'd given him a fountain pen. Motherfuckers what next, were they gonna ask him to cut himself out of his ties to the bed; he'd kill himself by accident.

_A friend. _

* * *

><p>"Okay so if we rent the equipment, and I'll borrow my Dad's car," Ash said, biting his pen, "we'll take Thierry's car, too."<p>

The group looked across to the table Thierry sat at with Hannah and the rest of the school council, and glared. It was true they didn't all sit together usually at lunch, but that day they'd put a few tables together so they could discuss plans for The Fabled Camping Trips.

Galen shifted in his seat.

"We're not going camping," he said. This was the first time he'd been set back far enough to halt it. And halt it he would, "can we not just, like, sleep at my house?"

Ash stared open mouthed, as did everyone else, besides Dalos who was humming something to himself, and Mary Lynette who was subtly coughing into her sleeve. She was sick. Cancer. But, shh it was a secret that only Galen knew, everyone else died before they found it.

"Sure, why not." Ash finally said, "Hey Thierry!" He screamed across the hall, not seeming to notice the stares and how everyone on the table went red, especially Thierry, "You up for sleeping in Galen's bed next weekend?"

Thierry scowled, before nodding subtly.

"So everyone at Galen's house on Friday with food and shit?" Ash asked, not even bothering to get confirmation from Galen, "Awesome, guys. See you."

Then he grabbed a shaky Mary-Lynette and dragged her from the hall, talking excitedly. The rest of the group broke off slowly, leaving just Keller and Galen at the table. She smiled, standing.

"Come on, we've got a party to plan," she said, "World History can go suck it."

Galen grinned at her, standing.

And for the first time in years, he really smiled.

* * *

><p><strong>Part numero dos soon? :3 Before next Saturday that's for sure. THIS WAS SO SHORT AAA I GOT WRITERS BLOCK AND DIDN'T WANT TO START THE PARTY EARLIER FML. <strong>


	4. Loop Maxine

**I'm ruining your innocent portrayal of Night World characters by making them swear, talk about porn, and die horrifically. **

**Ash gets so much screen time in this story, SOMEONE GIVE ME A CHARACTER TO IMPLEMENT INTO THE PLOT BECAUSE I ONLY EVER TALK ABOUT ASH. **

**Right, Jez, you're a main character now. **

**FAIRY TALE SEQUENCES EVERYWHERE. **

* * *

><p>"<em>The best way is not to fight it, just go. Don't be trying all the time to fix things. What you run from only stays with you longer. When you fight something, you only make it stronger."<em>

_Eva – Invisible Monsters. _

"if a tree falls and dies in a forest, and no one is around to hear it, what happens?" Keller asked, putting down her book and coming over to help Galen move furniture to get mattresses into the living room.

"It rots," Galen said, "just the same as if someone heard it fall."

She scowled, "I don't remember you being such a depressive freak last week, Gale," she pushed the sofa into the wall, most likely scraping paint, "are you sure you're okay?"

Galen smiled, invisible gun held to his head, "Yeah, just nervous."

"Of what? Ash finding your porn?"

"Fuck off," Galen laughed, "children read this story."

She gave him a funny look and went into the kitchen to make popcorn.

Their guests were arriving shortly; Galen's parents were at the neighbours, getting drunk most likely.

Galen set the last mattress down, pushing it as close as he could to the others, and collapsing down to watch Keller pile food and "orange" onto the coffee table.

The door rang.

And Galen breathed in relief, everything was going okay, whoever just arrived wasn't _dead _which is a plus, it's always a plus.

He pulled himself up and went to answer the door, finding the crowd of friends, the occasional gift spotted out between them. Honestly, if they were alive by morning, that'd be a massive plus. Screw the gifts.

Ash pushed past him, "Nice home you have here," he said, wandering off as everyone else piled in, making comments about how cold it was outside, and how their weeks sucked, and how Mr Hargreeve gave them even _more _sheets for their History assessments, and how someone had blasted dubstep out of his car windows and embarrassed them all, and how someone else had got in a fight on the bus.

And someone mentioned how much Max would've liked to be there.

"She would've loved eating babies, alright."

And everyone went silent.

Delos turned slowly and smiled, holding up a post it note.

_Just because I can't talk doesn't mean I'm deaf._

"Well anyway," Keller clapped her hands together, breaking up the awkward silence summoned by mentioning Maxine in any way whilst around Delos, "Let's all go get drunk and watch 16 and pregnant."

Everyone grinned and went to go sit down. Fourteen kids shoved into Galen's small living room, Ash was in the kitchen with Mary Lynette looking through the cabinets for painkillers.

Night came.

_Once upon a time..._

"Where's Thierry?"

_There was a girl and a boy. _

"He had some meeting."

_The girl told the boy "to earn my heart, you must do something treacherous." _

"Ah." Rashel sipped at her coffee and continued watching tv, "is he coming?"

"Yeah, I think so," Hannah smiled.

_The boy nodded, "anything for you, my beauty." _

There was a knock at the door, "I'll get it!" Quinn yelled, standing and sliding across the living room in his socks, Rashel went with him, smiling.

"_Good, now, take this knife, and kill the man that opens that door." She pointed to a small connected house just down the road, "go now." _

_The boy looked puzzled and confused, the boy looked everything, but he took the knife and walked stiffly to the house. _

"Who's at the door?" Poppy yelled, not receiving a reply. Everyone looked at each other, and Galen went pale.

_He knocked, a boy answered the door. _

They all rushed into the hallway, just in time to see Quinn wall to the floor, red staining his band tee, just in time to see Rashel follow him.

_And now the girl would love him. _

The boy at the door swayed slightly.

"_Good boy, Thierry." _

And he collapsed onto the growing pile of bodies.

Behind him stood a girl.

"Good boy, Thierry," she said, then turned to address the others, "Gutentag, Galen."

She bowed, and disappeared.

Hannah was the first to say something, walking over to her quite alive but dying boyfriend.

"Call 911," she said, "He's dying."

Poppy ran out of the hallway, through the living room, and into the kitchen, where the phone was situated.

"Greetings, pixie." A whisper came in her ear as she screamed, turning round and attempting to run back to the hallway, only to be grabbed. She tripped, her head slamming into a wall.

"Night, pixie."

Now by this point, your thinking _Galen's not the killer, it must be the German girl. _

_Right _

_No _

_Wrong_

_No _

Oh look someone else is dying.

Galen sat on the stairs, staring at the three dead bodies, hearing the yells of James from the other room because Poppy had slipped in her terror and conveniently knocked herself into a coma.

The lights went out, and Galen began to panic, his emotions basically kicked in and he grabbed Keller and pulled her upstairs. She resisted.

"What the hell are you doing? They're dying."

To emphasise her point, something crashed, and presumably, someone else died.

There was the thudding of someone sprinting upstairs, he knocked into Galen, who was trying to lock Keller in the boiler room_ for her own safety, damn it. _

It was Ash, and he was carrying what looked like Mary Lynette, only she was bleeding from her arm and shaking.

They piled into the cupboard, which was better, and waited their as they heard more footsteps around the house, and the distinctive sound of someone being murdered.

_How the hell were the neighbours not hearing this? _

_Reply: they were drunk. _

The sound of someone running into the bathroom, and the quiet sound of them being followed.

And the loud sound of them being murdered.

Sounding suspiciously like Jez, it did. Because she fought.

_Then the sound of something being _dragged _downstairs. _Sounded suspiciously like Jez, because the attacker couldn't carry her: too heavy.

Ahaha oh I kid.

The boiler room door creaked open, and they saw no one.

"Oh fuck it," Galen said, grabbing Keller and dragging her back downstairs and out the front door, Ash and Mary Lynette followed. As they walked past the living room door, which was cracked open, they saw Hannah, whom of which had lodged herself under the coffee table with James, and was staring at them with wide, terrified eyes.

No, not staring at them, staring at Delos's boots as he wandered the room.

"Oh where could you be~?" he asked.

"Delos, don't toy with your food," someone else said.

"It's Dalos."

"Since when could Delos talk?" Ash exclaimed, and the footsteps in the next room paused, before stomping towards the door.

"Ash you fucking idiot," Galen replied, pushing them out of the front door.

They sprinted to the neighbours and knocked on the door, but apparently no one could hear, frisking drunken bridging grumble grumble bastards.

No one was in next door but one, or two, or three, or fo-

Where _were _they?

Galen ran to the front window, banging on it and peering inside.

Dead.

"Did she kill everyone in town? Jesus!"

"She?" Ash asked, shifting Mary Lynette in his arms.

"Well whatever, we've got the go."

Delos was half way up the street by now, and gaining speed. Coming after them with _her. _

And they ran, past all the other houses, and they decided that going to police should work, would work, because the police could help and everything would be okay okay okay.

The scenery changed as they ran through the park, winding through the play ground, jumping the beck, and running across more flat expanse towards the four circle rocks and the bridge, which in turn led to a narrow abandoned alley next to a playing field before they finally got into the middle of town.

Why had they gone through the park again?

Morning dew covered the grass, it was getting light, five in the morning in April and it was getting light.

Oh my, it's a Christmas miracle.

Did you know that the light is scarier than the dark? I'm not even kidding. It's fucking terrifying seeing the monsters in the too bright light, everything is different. And when the sun is just coming up and you're being hunted through the park by the friend that you used to play in it with, plus the woman that is continuously ruining your life, you begin to realize just how terrifying it is, and how you'll never escape, because your friends are destined to die on that April 4th. Four is similar to the, kanji, is it? Hiragana for death. Therefore, four is death.

Four is birth, and four is death. The fourth day, of the fourth month, in the 16th year, of which square root is four, you realize that it was meant to happen like this.

And what's the point in fighting anymore?

Galen noticed the sound underfoot change to a clanging as they went over the bridge, and then the crunch of pebbles. Ash had it the hardest, he was carrying his unconscious girlfriend, with her stab wound in the leg that was going to get infected if it hadn't killed her already.

She was dead, Ash just wanted to pretend she wasn't. He didn't want to leave her body with Delos – sorry, Dalos – he'd probably... deface her.

_Do you ever get, really, really paranoid that you're going to die on this lane, Galen? _

That's what that lovely German girl, that refused to tell him his name after all these years had told him last time, before he skipped back .

It was a warning.

Oh god.

Galen heard Ash stumble and give up, dropping to the floor and weakly trying to get over the wall onto the playing field where he could hide.

Only he couldn't hide their either, because it was a playing field.

Galen ran, and ran, and ran.

It always ended this way, with him and Keller running.

Galen stopped, and Keller didn't notice. She kept going, and didn't stop until she was all the way into town.

Soul survivors; _Keller and Delos. _

_Only Keller committed suicide. _

_Yes. _

"_suicide."_

Galen spun round, and felt the girl crash into him. They fell to the floor and Delos sprinted past them, off to catch Keller.

The girl kissed him. Her mouth tasted of death and her tongue spread the poison she had been holding behind her teeth.

"We'll die together," she giggled, "see you in the morrow."

Galen felt the poison burning his throat.

He was a shadow of his former self.

An out of character character.

"My name's Maxine, by the way."

And he'd just kissed Delos' dead sister.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh I'm just clowning, fangirls.<strong>

**Filename went from "holy sweet what" to "MY BRAIN IS FUCKING" and then "MY BRAIN IS EXPLODIN." **

**explaination? My head exploded when I decided to name the German girl Maxine. **

**what a name. **


	5. Loop Ada

**File name on word: th. **

**File name on : THE PARTY DON'T STOP OH.**

**Why? because Ke$ha pwns. **

**Oh god. OC's. Half braindead filler chapter because I have no idea what I;'m going to DO WITH THIS PLOT OH MY GOSH. Encase you haven't realized, I don't have my plot wizard, Tina, helping me out with this shi- CHILDREN. Hell, I don't even think she's reading this story. **

* * *

><p><em>All was golden when the day met the night.<em>

**July 12, 2011. **

"Maxine?" she said, placing her sleeved hand on her friend's leg, "can you hear me?"

"She can hear you, but she won't answer," he said from the doorway. She turned around to see and confirm the owner of the voice.

"Hey Delos," she whispered, watching him biting down on an apple and entering the room. He opened the blinds, letting in precious light, and then he knelt next to Maxine and narrator.

"As I was saying, she won't reply."

The girl scowled, Maxine only replied to him, her Brother, anyway. Even if she and Maxine were friends, she only smiled for him.

Maxine's eyes opened, and she smiled, she smiled at Delos. He grinned back, eating the core of his apple.

_He never grins at me like that. _

"Hello brother," Maxine said.

_It's like I'm not even here. _

"Hey, you okay?" he asked. Maxine nodded, curls of her ashy blond hair settling out on her cheeks, "How about you, Vicky?"

Vicky, what a gross name, _why does he insist on calling me that? _

Upon seeing her glare, he smiled nervously and went "sorry, Vicky isn't it? I forgot."

_I've lived next to you for the last six years, I'm only a year younger than you, and your sister and I were best friends, you lived in my house for six fucking months. My name is Ada, it's Ada, It's Ada, It's A- _

"My name's Max, as in Maxine," Ada lied, just a little lie really.

Delos looked surprised, "you two have the same name? Weird."

The real Maxine said nothing, she was gone again. Delos held Ada's sleeve, pulling her up.

"We're going now, sis," he said.

Maxine focused, "Delos, when did you get back in town? I missed you."

Cut backwards to when Maxine was normal, when she and Ada were best friends. When Delos was a heroic brother that didn't live at home.

There are several key factors:

Ada plus Maxine plus a gallon of bleach plus eighteen kids and a pinch of insanity and a lot of chance and coincidence.

Equals.

Ghosts.

Murder.

One of the most confusing Love situations I've ever experienced written.

Dearest reader, Maxine used to be a good girl.

This story isn't about Maxine, it's about Galen, but it's crucial I cover the domino's stories... and it's important you find out what put everything into place.

_The _two girls skipped together. Thirteen, fourteen; enthusiastic, introverted; Ada, Maxine; The god hand and the first Domino. Alpha and Omega.

My aim in writing this isn't to confuse you or to hide who murdered everyone (although, that _is _a secret.) The aim is to highlight Galen, and break him into a million pieces. As I write this I'm in a crowded library, smudging my words and trying to figure out who the hell murdered everyone.

* * *

><p><span>July 10<span>th, 2010.

Everyday, on their way, back to their homes, Me, I mean, Ada and Maxine passed a seemingly abandoned barn. I say seemingly abandoned because a killer, and incredibly famous one in my, I mean their, universe was hiding there.

"Dare you to go inside," Ada nudged her older, taller, prettier but shyer friend, Maxine.

Maxine smiled, "Haha," forced laughter right there, darling, "no, you."

"Hell no," Ada said, "I don't want ghosts to eat me, or are you a chicken?"

"No one says chicken anymore, kid. And I just don't want too."

"Didn't your older brother tell you to stay strong before he _left?" _

Uncalled for, Ada. Everyone knows that Delos is the younger sibling by four minutes and seven seconds. Maxine scowled, walking towards the house with big strides and strong resolved. Ada followed after, unbelieving that she was actually going to do it.

Maxine walked up too the front door, finding it locked, she checked the windows, the street, then began to wriggle into a slightly open window.

Ada waiting, biting her lip. It began to get dark, cold; she shoved her hands into her armpits and hopped up and down on the spot.

Maxine didn't come out of the house. Ada trudged towards it, going up to the slightly open window and peering inside; _locked dark cold dark scary. Dark scary scary murderer. _

Is it weird that I know she goes "Maxine, you bitch, you left," and leaves, but when she approached that window and looked inside, I still genuinely thought she was going to be dragged inside.

Adelay von Dunkelheit, the queen of suspense, ammarite?

Ada scowled, "Maxine, you bitch, you left," she said to the darkness, "I'm gonna kill you."

Then she left, wandered home, and went to sleep.

* * *

><p><span>July 22<span>nd, 2010. 

"The search for the local and much loved girl, has now been ongoing for over ten days, the police force released this official statement on the progress of the investigation..."

Ada spooned the last coco pop in her bowl into her mouth; it tasted like nothing, nothing. She looked across, Delos sat at the other side of the kitchen island, head in his hands. His parents were arguing.

To be expected, their child was missing.

So he was next door, with strangers, sleeping on Ada's floor and furious over so many things.

Ada was so guilty, so fucking guilty, so fu-

"We will leave no rock unturned in this search," the television said, "no house unchecked."

* * *

><p><span>December 15<span>th, 2010. 

They gave up the search.

And a day later.

She showed up.

Mute, broken, and anger in her eyes, anger at Ada for leaving her.

And so much love for Delos, the same Delos that had lived with Ada for over a year. The same Delos that Ada desperately loved and wanted and _needed. _

Ada needed him, and she'd have him.

Galen threw the basketball at the wall, catching it when it bounced, and then throwing it again.

"So your name's Maxine?" he said to the girl sat next to him, "Like Delos' sister was called?"

"Um, yeah," the girl said.

"And who are you?"

"Just a friend, trying to help you."

"If I remember correctly, you murdered all my friends last time, with the help of a mentally unstable 20 year old."

She grinned, "You fucked up, so I killed them. Wanna go again?"

Galen sighed, "Yeah okay."

But non, mein petit.. um, idk.

You're not going again.

Because Ada-chan is bored, bored, bored, and she is sure that whoever reads this crazy fest of her memoirs is confused too.

She writes in third person so she can pretend she isn't me, after all.

* * *

><p><strong>Jesus <strong>_**Christine **_**go review and help me. ;u; **

**The mysterious Ada/Maxine/Narrator continues her tale.**

**And encase you didn't figure this out, this is told in narration, as in, it's not me being a cynical bastard all throughout, it's who ever is narrating, like, idk the murderer? Wink wink nudge nudge say no moar say no maw. **


	6. Loop Alternate

_Tick tock goes the clock; the readers have lost sense of this plot._

_The clock is shattered; it's no longer sings,_

_That twisted little song, all it's facts are wrong._

_This is alternative; this is what happens when everything goes right. _

_A splatter of red, a flash of white, _

_Blood will be spilled on this horrific night. _

_And nothing will ever be quite the same, _

_I'm sure the author of this story is insane. _

* * *

><p><strong>(My poetry owns.)<strong>

**I'm sorry for the delay! **waves arms around** so much has been happening! I'm kinda gimping around trying to sort out my life. No excuse, though! I'll try and resume regular updates now!**

**_Don't correct me on my grammar, spelling, messed up wording, assholes, I am dead of sleepnessless. _ **

**Google translate is convinced that **_**sa mort **_**means he died. **_**It doesn't god damn it.**_

**_Ada stole Maxine's name, Galen still thinks she's called Maxine. So don't be confused. _**

* * *

><p><span>Unknown year, unknown loop, inferno. <span>

Is this my own personal hell?

A never ending loop of their deaths, their deaths at my hands?

You know, the skin on my wrist, if you were to draw a sharpie down it, a pink one, it was blur and spread like it would if it was upon parchment. My skin is paper thin, yet I survive. I can speak, yet I choose not too. Why? What comes from my mouth is horror, horror, horror.

I loved her like my own, a sister she truly was, _Although Maxine was a bad name for my parents to choose, I prefer Natalya, _I really do.

But now I'm in this darkness, and when I reincarnate, I will see Galen, and I will notice the weary look in the old man's face, the same one I have held for much longer.

_Non, rien de rien. _

_Non, rien de rien._

_Non! Je ne regrette rien._

_**(Elle nourais et je ne faisais rien.)**_

_Non, rien de rien._

_Non, rien de rien. _

_Non! Je ne regrette rien._

_**(Je ne regrette rien**__**, mais **__**sa mort.)**_

_Forgive me. _

* * *

><p><span>April 4th, 2014. <span>

Galen opened his eyes just in time to slam into a locker face first. He moaned, falling back and blinking.

"Where am I?" he asked himself.

"School, asshole," someone laughed, "pay attention to where you're going."

Galen looked up to see a boy with blonde hair, a smirk, and a circle of people surrounding Galen and him.

"Oh, hey Ash," he smiled weakly, "guess I tripped."

Ash gave him a weird look, "Who told you you're allowed to say my name, freak?"

"I don't underst-"

"Ash~" someone squealed, "Ohmygosh, what happened?"

Galen focused on the girl clutching onto Ash's arm, she didn't look like Mary Lynette, she was more...

"Nothing, Ada," he smiled at her, putting his arm around her, "some fucking weirdo slammed into me."

Ada gave Galen a look, smirking and winking slightly at him, before opening her aubergine mouth to say "Oh, weird. C'mon, Ash~," she whined, "Let's go eat lunch together."

_Oh Jesus it's Maxine oh Jesus, why did he call her Ada? Why did she wink at me? What's she doing? _

Ash and Ada wandered off, and the crowd began to break up until only one boy was left. He has crossed arms and adjusted the white messenger bag he wore, covered in scribbled sharpie messages and pictures. The largest saying "_YO' DELOS TELL ME HOW YOU GOT SO FLOSSY?" _with a reply in red sharpie saying, "_IT AIN'T MY FAULT ALL THE LADIES WANT ME." _In what alternative universe did Delos like Hollywood Undead? Jesus Christ. And in what universe did Galen write the word flossy on _anything. _

"Gale, you're such an idiot," he smiled, offering him a hand.

"At least you're acting normal, Delos," Galen said, standing and rubbing at the forming bruise on his head, "what's up with Ash?"

Delos smirked, "he's just a prick, same as he's always been. Actually, he's in a pretty good mood today, his girlfriend is back in town."

"Girlfriend? Wait, Delos, what year is it?"

Delos gave him a look, "You should probably go to the nurse's office. It's 2014. Happy birthday, by the way, dude."

"Come to think of it, why can you talk?"

Delos grabbed his arm, "right, nurse's office."

"There's nothing wrong with me!"

Delos spun round, "Man, you thought Ash was our friend, you can't remember what year it is, and you seem to think that I can't speak, when I clearly can. So you have a concussion and you're going to get yourself sorted out. Plus, I want to miss a lesson."

Galen scowled, allowing Delos to drag him to the nurse.

"Hey, Thea," he said, "Where's Miss?"

Thea, a girl that Galen wasn't particularly well aquatinted with, but hung out with, smiled brightly, "Back again, Delos?"

Delos beamed, enjoying her smile, "Yeah, I am, but for Galen. He just high fived a locker with his face and now he's speaking a load of utter Shi-"

"Language," the nurse said, entering the room, "Galen, right?"

"Is she new?" Galen asked.

"I see what you mean," the nurse said, "come with me, kid."

Galen allowed her to test him, all the while confused.

"Galen, sweetness, what's my name?" she asked.

His eyes darted to her name card lying on the table, "Blaise? Is that how you pronounce it? Oh bloody hell you're Thea's sister, right?"

She grinned, "Yeah." Then sat back, dragging a pack of cigarettes from her draw and offering him one.

"I'm 16, aren't you meant to be a nurse?"

"Right, yeah, get out, you're fine. My sister and Delos have been flirting for long enough, it's sickening."

Galen got up the leave, feeling the fresh bandage on his head where he'd hit, and just as he left she said one last thing.

"And Galen? Stop dancing with time."

Galen spun back around, "what?"

She smirked, "stop now."

He blinked, and she was gone.

"I'm losing it."

The bell signalling the end of the final lesson rang, and he found himself a hella confused as Delos proceeded to drag him in the general direction of the bike sheds.

Galen, being the model student he blatantly was, had always steered clear of the bikesheds, favouring the benches, or the astro turf to the breeding ground for Hawt Topic hipster chicks and their stoner boyfriends. He made his way through the crowd of sitting degenerates until Delos suddenly sat and Galen tripped over him, stumbling to the floor. They were facing Maggie.

This is surreal.

Galen always remembered Maggie as a doting mother figure to Delos, wearing overalls and worrying about him, but it occurred to him that the calendar in the nurses officer had read 2014, and he did feel pretty much like his seventeen year old self, freshly adorned with the butterfly tattoo he'd forced his mum to let him get because it was so _like, supportive and cool, _and he had fucking sideburns.

_Not that sideburns aren't attractive on anyone but Galen. Kesese. _

Galen spotted the folder propped against Maggie's rounded thighs; it seemed to be filled with lots of paper and a canvas.

"Maggie, what's that?" he asked, frowning in familiar confusion.

_The worst part about these damn time loops is how little I question being in a time loop, and just accept the madness. _

"Oh it's my art folder. Portfolio is due next week and I'm a bit worried about screwing up my canvas by overdoing it."

Maggie had never been the artsy type, Galen noted, she was more of a practical, logical girl. He'd be more likely to ask her to do his Math homework for him than help him add tone to someone's face.

"Gale, did your cat die? You're being weird. Or are you sick?" She asked suspiciously, inching away from him.

"He got his face slammed into a locker by King Redfern and his whore." Delos said in a creepily cheery tone, there were mutters of pity from around, and Galen realized that everyone was listening.

Galen stood, blushing slightly and adding to his waifish uke bishie beaten demeanour.

Maggie grinned and stood, quickly followed by Delos.

"You coming over tonight, Galen?" Delos asked.

Galen, eager to figure out more about this world, nodded.

"Sweet, I'm in!" Maggie said, grabbing her bag and her folder, "wanna split a bag of chips, Delos?"

"Yeah I'm with that." Delos smiled at her, flirty fucker, "See you tonight, Gale'. My sister is _dying _to see you and Ada will probably show up as well, because I know you two are such good friends."

_Oh, good,_ Galen thought, _I have some questions for her. _

"See you, dear!" Delos said, walking off with Maggie and leaving Galen surrounding by ravenous hipster fanfiction writers that _loved leopards. _

Yeah. Great.

* * *

><p>He's alone again, even if he's eating chips with her, even if he's smiling with her, it's nice having vocal chords and being oblivious again, he likes it, he's been in this loop for about a month, it's nice, Maxine is here.<p>

_Non, rien de rien. _

_Non, rien de rien._

_non! Je ne regrette rien._

_**(Elle nourais et je ne faisais rien.)**_

_Non, rien de rien._

_Non, rien de rien. _

_non! Je ne regrette rien._

_**(Je ne regrette rien**__**, mais **__**sa mort.)**_

_Love me. _

* * *

><p><strong>I have nothing against Hot Topic, they sell Prussia shirts, but fuck you, Hot topic hipster chicks, fuck you. <strong>

**I genuinely always though Delos had blonde hair, fucking hell. ;u;**

**This chapter sucks, I'm getting back into the swing of things, sorry! WOAH CHANGE OF POV. **

**French:**

_No, nothing at all. _

_No, nothing at all._

_I regret nothing at all. _

**_(She died and I didn't save her.)_**

_No, nothing at all._

_No, nothing at all. _

_I regret nothing at all. _

**_(The one thing I regret is her death.)_**


	7. Straight Line

**Name: I HOPE YOU ALL HATE ME FOR THE ENDING AHAHAHAHA. **

**Chapter 7 is the only chapter I could've finished it on, and I don't fancy going up to chapter 77 just for the sake of my OCPD.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, how is this terrible excuse for a mindfuck my most reviewed story wtf.**

**Warning: Not even Beta'd and a shitty ending. **

* * *

><p>"I'm tired."<p>

Delos had been in this loop before, next Galen would say-

"Yeah, I am too."

_Yeah, I am too. _

_Damn. _

"I'll see you tomorrow." Maggie smiled, unlocking her front door and bidding farewell.

_No you won't. _

_It is the end, my friends, the story concludes tonight. I will do what I should of done in the first place, the thing I've been putting off for nine fucking hundred years and infinitely more heartbreaks._

_Kill Galen. _

* * *

><p><span>April 14th, 2014.<span>

Galen shimmied into his jeans, pulling up the zip and exiting the bathroom in Delos' underwear, fucking people spilling fucking coffee all over his fucking- god he couldn't even swear enough over the prospect of wearing joker underwear all night.

The party had grown bigger than they had all expected. Apparently, wherever Ada went, the entire school followed and soon after Delos, Maggie and Galen were surrounded by the entire teenage populace of the town, and no one seemed to know it was Galen's party besides a few people.

Galen struggled his way downstairs, through the living room, kitchen, and out onto the patio.

Delos lived on the cusp of town; his back garden was pretty much Galen's least favourite forest _of all time. _His parents had built the house there in a desperate attempt to be closer to nature and _hey, it's a free country and no one owns the land let's do it. _

Delos stood in the cold for a few minutes, batting his 'baccy around in his hands and debating if smoking what he'd found in his bedroom was a smart idea.

Apparently, in this universe he was a chain smoker.

It was at that moment that, at the foot of the garden, he saw Ada. She was sitting on the gate that lead the path out into the forest, a red dot from the cigarette she was burning down at high speed. Without a second more debate, Galen began to pick his way up the garden to her.

Outside was serine, the music booming from inside the house, but it was far enough away to be calming and it was practically blocked out by the shouting.

"I GOT SOMETHING TO SAY, I KILLED A BABY TODAY-" the stereo blared, being turned up further but still drowned out in the screams of an entire town of kids chanting back, "AND I GOT SOMETHING TO SAY, I RAPED YOUR MOTHER TODAY."

Galen failed to understand the town's infatuation with punk music from a completely different country.

"Ada," he said, "I have something to say."

"What?" she asked, lighting up again and continuing her chain smoking, "what's up, Gale?"

"I don't want to do this any more."

She smirked, "come with me."

He took her hand, and they marched from the garden out into the forest.

From inside, Ash watched out of the window.

"'sup with you?" Quinn asked from his side.

"Where the fuck are Ada and that weirdo going?"

"'dunno," Morgead said, "wanna follow 'em?"

They grabbed their coats and slipped outside, Delos followed, along with Maggie.

He'd seen this loop before.

Oh _god. _

Galen could've closed his eyes and it would be lighter than the horrendously dark forest that Ada was apparently navigating with ease. He allowed her to lead him, her hand cold in his, until they broke out of the forest and into a clearing.

That clearing, on the edge of the cliff overlooking the town that had been the clearing it all began in.

Delos pocketed the metal in his hand, moving it from his hoodie to his jeans and back again, he already knew where they were going, he tried to stay out of sight and stay quiet. Now was the time, now was the year, he had to do it _now _and if Ash stopped him he'd stab him and carry on.

Galen had a furrowing feeling as Ada dragged him to the edge, stopping just before they went over and holding him in place. It was terrifying feeling, the adrenaline rush was euphoric and he suddenly felt ready to face his demons.

"Ada." He said.

"Galen." She replied.

"I have to kill you now." They both said at the same time as Delos whispered it from the treeline.

"Don't you fucking try it!" Ash exclaimed, and Galen spun round so fast he almost fell off the edge, "I'll kill you, Drache!"

_Drache was my father, ami. _Galen attempted to step away from the edge, and it was at that moment that Delos slipped out of the trees and began to walk forward slowly and calmly, after all, _he had all the time in the world. _

He walked straight past Ash, Morgead and Quinn and up to Galen.

"I have to kill you." He whispered in Galen's face.

"No." Galen whispered, "No one has to kill anyone, apart from Ada, she has to die."

"Galen don't you see?" Ava exclaimed, "killing me won't solve anything, it's not my fault this is happening!"

"you're the reason we're looping, Galen."

"What do you mean?"

"You weren't sent back to try and save your friends, Ada was, and when she made a colossal fuck up of it, I was, and when I made a colossal fuck up of it, you were. But time isn't meant to be as thoroughly twisted as it is being, and it's rebelling. We thought sending you back would prevent what happened that night."

"What do you mean what happened that night?"

He was being backed towards the edge again, he looked behind him to see the large drop, and his rabbit heart reacted as if it was in headlights.

"You happened that night,"

He felt himself be pushed backwards, but he was disconnected, not falling, flying. He watched Delos get further away, clutching at the metal pipe in his hand before he disappeared all together and Galen's body shattered against a rock, killing him instantly.

The world went dark, and for the first time in hundreds of years, it didn't go light again.

* * *

><p>"I tell it like it happened, seriously."<p>

The men shared glances.

"Mister Drache."

"Call me Galen, please." He couldn't bear to end the rest of the cliché with _Mr Drache was my father _but it was so tempting, "Mr Drache was my father."

"Look, we know you belie-"

"That's how it happened, why would I lie?"

"Mr Drache, your story is – pardon my French – fucking ridiculous. Tina travel, bleached throats, lake spirits?"

Galen shot up, and was immediately restrained, "Call me Galen," he exclaimed, "It's true, I swear, ask Delos!"

"Galen, Delos is dead," his mother whispered.

"What? I d-don't."

"Mister Drache, you're being tried for 18 cases of first degree murder."

Galen strained against the people holding him in place, "I didn't, I wouldn't, why would I do that? I loved her."

"You're mentally unstable, Gale," his mother said, she was practically in tears, "I'm so so-, I-" her breath hitched, "_Why did you do this? What happened to my son?" _

"I didn't do it."

"Too late for that," the police officer said sternly, leaning in close, "you're fucking nicked, mate."

What happened to your son indeed, and Galen spent the rest of his days rotting away, sectioned under the mental health act and his case tied up in bucketloads of red tape. Galen never went camping with his friends, he made up half of their names, and he never honourably tried to escape with his girlfriend, because he didn't know the girl. He never travelled through time, and there was never a girl called Ada.

Well, not in this universe, any way.

Then again, his story, however outlandish and insane, might've been true.

Moral of the story: don't fuck with time or death.

* * *

><p><strong>The end, this story can leave me alone now. <strong>

**I REGRET NOTHING.**

**Baccy – tobacco.**

**Written to Lake Pontchartrain by Ludo. Yes, it's relevant as fuck, yes, go listen to it. I was listening to that song, debating hunting down a lighter and making my room smell like tea and incense when I realized this is the only way it could end. **


End file.
